Cotton-picker.



COTTON PICKER.

APPLIOATION FILED 11211.28. 1911.

Patented July 9, 1912.

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I ATTORNEY.

E. G.CO0K.

COTTON PICKER.

APPLoATIo'N FILED 11911.28, 1911.

Patented July 9, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET `3.

LVI/ENGR.- f@ @m I'VJTNESSES:

ATTORNEY.

.Ml/WLM QCWQW COTTON-PICKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 28, 1911.

ELBRIDGE c. COOK, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, AssIeNoitv sroxns, orINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

or en -mm1 'ro JOHN w.

Patented-Jurys, 1ere.

Serial No. 623,976.

' machines of the type that is designed to be -larly to cotton pickersthat are guided and controlled by human agency,` the invention havingreference more particudesigned to remove the cotton from the bolls inthe elds by the vacuum or a suction process.

The object of the invention primarily is to provide improved means vforexpeditiously picking cot-ton without injury to the' fiber thereof, afurther object being to provide a reliable and relatively vinexpensivecotton picker that will 'be adapted to be easily drawn by animalsthroughihe fields and alsolcapable of being erated and without beingliable to derangement in use. Y

lVitl1`tlie above mentioned and minor objects in view the inventioncomprises a truck adapted to be hitched to a wagon and provided with aplurality of combined suction and blowing fans arranged and gearedtogether in a Vnovel manner and having suction tubes of novelconstruction and ar rangement, a pipe connected with the fans fordischarging the cotton into the wagon, and an engine or motor connectedwith the fans for simultaneously operating `themg the inventionconsisting further in the novel parts and in the combinations andarrangements of parts as hereinafter particularly described andclaimed.'

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvedcotton picker; Fig. 2, a top plan of the machine; Fig.' 3, a sectionalelevation on the line A\A in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a fragmentary sectionalview of one of the suction tubes; Fig. 5, a fragmentary section ontheline B B in Fig. 1; Fig. 6, a fragmentary vertical section on the'plane of the line C C in Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a fragmentary sectionapproximately on the line D D in Fig. l; Fig. 8, a fragmentary sectionon the plane of the line E in Fig. 7 g Fig. 9, a fragmentary section onthe line economically op.

journal-boxes 15 and 15 F F in Fig. 3; and Fig. 10, a fragmentaryinverted plan of the forward portion of the truck.

' Similar' reference characters in .the different fgures of the drawingsindicate like parts or features of construction herein referred to. fThe invention as preferably constructed comprises a suitable frame 1having a rounded forward end 2 adapted to abut the rear end of a wagonbody, the frameA being provided with a lioor 3 so as to constitute aplatform and which is supported by two arch axles 4 and 5, the'latterbeing secured lixedly tothe platform, the forward axle 4 being connectedto `the platform-by means of a center-pin 6 and is provided with a pairof wheels 7 and 7'; the rear axle 5 being provided with a pair of wheels8 and 8.

The forward aXlc 4 is provided with two l./-shaped draw-bars 94 and 9arranged near.

the wheels and which preferably are connected together at their ends bymeans of a tie rod 1G* to which draft chains 11 and 11 are connectedwhich are adapted to be con-l nected to the rear axle of a wagon.

A plurality of fans are mounted upon the platform, there beino twoillustrated,- and they comprise two shells 12 and 13 arranged inparallel order and convenient distance apart, the adjacently arrangedside plates 14 and 14 of the shells being provided with respectively.and are otherwise imperforate. The farther or outer side plates 16 and16 of the shells are provided with journal-boxes 17 and'17 respectively,and each plate has al suitableJ` number of inlet openings .18 ythereinarranged about the journal-boxes through which to receivethe cotton.

A shaft 19 rotatably mounted in the journal-'boxes 15 1 and 17 and isprovided" with a coupling 20. a similar shaft 19v being mounted in theyjournal-boxes 15. and 17 and provided with a coupling 20',

the couplings beingadjacent the journal-boxes 15 and 15'-, said shaftsbeing in alinement, and an extension shaft 2 1y is secured to the twocouplings so that the two shafts 19 and 19 are practically one shaft andobviously may beso'made if desired. A pinion 422 is secured tothe'shafty 21 for :driving the two fans which comprise a suitable numberof fan blades 23 mounted on the shaft in the, shell 12 and similarblades '23 mounted' on ythe vshaft vin the shell j 'iii barrel 35extending having a' retaining'ring 36 secured therein ..1 nyg-anabtendant s pl 'as to l 7 u .ch 'tu f'p'refera y having a n ipp 'ej 2 or2'2" in its larger end,". thelnipple being erabiy'have coiled wirevtubesitrom collapsing -under suct1on.

port-ion, the: a justability ,1 accomplishedby the ndfportion `thereinthat has a flange 34 thereon adapted cotton fis-itis drawn into theshells and at againstthe opposing -edg'es of the Y' ,suitablenumberfoffsuction tubes are connected'to the enter 'sides 'ofthe fans,each preferably beingtapering slightly from f and to'thezlar'ger--end'portions 25 or 25 connectedv vto:=the side4 'platesl atthe'v inlet-o and'thesmaller end portions 2.6.or'26'a-be adaptedto becarried about gather the cotton,

screwed-into the`inlet'opening. The tubes are made of suitablevvcomposition" and pref- 28'therein to prevent ezt'erably each -tubeprovided With a preferably being ing'4 ajoint 4flange-'30 thereon; aflexible curved inlet end portion-which contains a ,stiening'wirefcoil28 lias a larger end portionl 31 and j a smaller inlet.end portion 32, 31`havinga ferrule 33 forced to turn against the flange30,' a cylindrical 'from'the iiangev 34 and .for retaining; thejointflangesin Contact and n permitting the ange 34.to `turnrelativelyan@ lengths to the flange 30.' The smaller, end portion 32' protect thevhas ajferrule 37 in its orifice to rubber com osition of which the tubeis composed. The

suction tubes are madein vsuitdrawnva'long the ground, "thejcurved'adjustable end 'portions being carried by attendants, and inv order tosupthe middle portions of the suctiontubes .a rail'38 is provided whichextends across' beyond'the 'rear and alongopposite sides of portions 38suitable number loosely on the rail, each'r'ing 60 L' suction' tubeextends. The

the platform in aplane somewhat higher 'than'the platform, and' it hascurved corner and 38 and is bent near` its nds toform supporting arms 39and 39 which are secured to v55 on therear end .of the frame l andsupport- .viol'lsvthat if desired they may extend under the rail andrest in the rings.-

4A pair .ofjournatboxes 43 'and are s e-i v 4 tankl'. The outlet 1rsfedjandfro'tatively adjustable inlet end means of aferrule 29 forcedinto theendportion'26iof the tube and havv so that the cotton may begathered at the rear and also at the sides of the 'truck as-'it isopposite sides -of' the.l

-pipe 54 from cured to the-exterior vof the shells 12 and 13 i of thefans, preferably near the outlet p0rtlons thereof, and they rotatablysupport' a countershaft 44 to which a gear wheel45 is secured which,meshes with the pinionV 22.v

A gear Wheel 46, which is relatively smaller than' the wheel 45, issecured also At0 .the counters'haft A suitable engine 47 of theexplosion type using oil as fuel is mounted on the platform with itscrankshaft'48 arranged 'parallel to the counter shaft 44, preferablyhaving 4fly-wheels thereon,

is adapted to enable the engine, which may 'run 'at high speed, to drivethe fans at great-l velocityinorder toproduce suction ina relatively.large num-ber of suction tubes;

and a relatively la'rgev gear wheel 'is secured to the crank shaft- '48and meshes with 'the relatively smaller. gear wheel 46.- The gearing aswill be seen The engine is provided witha suitable fuel` portions. 52and 52 of the shellsl 12 and 13 respectively are prozontal dischargepipe 54 which-has an elbow 54 to which the upper ends of theupwardlyvided with discharge pipes 53 and y53 re- I lspectively .which areconnected to a horiextending pipesw53` and 53 are directly connected.The main portion of the pipe 54 is suitably supported, preferably bymeansofa saddle `55 mounted on the tank 5.1. The upper' portion of thepipe 54. has a suitable number of perfor-ations 56 therein to permit Thepipe. is suciently longto extend forward beyond the vertical plane ofthe forward end of the lplatform' and has 'a down turned elbow 57 isdrawn behind a wagon having suicient capacity to haul a considerablequanand the engine 47 being oper# tity of cotton, ated drives-thec'ountershaft 44 and 1t 1n turn drives the fans which draw air throughthesuction tubes' and discharge 'the air through the pipe 54.Attendantscarry. the adjustable end portions' of the suction tubes andturn them or adjust'them so as to conf veniently place the inlet ends 32to the ripened cotton on the plants, the curved portions being turned soas to reach downwardly to relatively low'stalks when necessary or ineither direction laterally for `The suction produced by the rapidlymoving fan blades draws the cotton suction-tubes into the shells r12 and13 from which theair and cotton -is expelled through the tubes 53and 53and then sent into the which some of the air escapes through the `theescape of some of the air which carriesv I .the cotton through the pipe.

practical use the' cotto?y picking ma through the apertures 56,takingwith it any ducing the force of the blastso that the cotton shallnot be blown out of the pipe into the wagon with unnecessary force. Itwill be apparent that each attendant may control two suction tubes, sothat in the present case with eight tubes and four attendants a largeamount of cotton may be picked with each passage of the machine acrossthe field, and the range of action being relatively wide, fewer tripsare required and proportionate loss of time saved in turning at the endsof the trips.

Having thus described the invention,what is claimed as new is- 1. Acotton picker including a shell, a shaft rotatably mounted in the shell,a plurality of suction-tubes connected with one side of the shell atdifferent portions thereof distant from the shaft for discharging thecotton in relatively small quantities into different port-ions of theshell, and thin fan blades carried by the shaft for drawing the cottonforcibly into the shell, edges of the blades being presented toward theincoming cotton, said edges being thickenedand having rounded portionsfacing toward said side of the shell.

2. A cotton picker including a movable platform, a plurality ofsuction-producing blowers and also an vengine mount-ed on the plat-form,the` blowers being arranged up rightly with their backs adjacent-ly oneto another in parallel order on the rear portion of the platform andhaving outlet tubes eX- tending upward from their sides that are towardthe engine, gearing connecting the pluralityof blowers to the engine, a1plurality of suction-tubes .connected independently to the outer orfarther sides of the blowers, with the plurality of tubes and extendingabove the plane of the top of the engineto a plane beyond the forwardend of the platform, the end of the ldischarge-pipe extendingdownward'beyond the engine.

3. In a cotton picker, the combination of a platform.,'. two 4circula-rshells oppositely arranged uprightly on the platform and having each ajournal-box on the exterior thereof, suction-tubes connected to the twoshells respectively, a discharge -pipe connected with the two shells, vashaft rotatably mounted in the tvo shells, tw-o series of fan blades onthe shaft, one series being in one shell and the other series in theother shell,

a pinion secured to the shaft between the shells, an engine mounted onthe platform, the engine having rotatable shaft, a counter-shaft mountedin the journal boxes, a drive-wheel secured to the rotatable shaft, agear wheel secured to the counter-shaftand engaging the pinion, and awheel secured to the counter-shaft and operatively connected with thedrive wheel.

In testimony whereof, l' aiiiX my signature' in presence of twowitnesses.

ELBRDGE C. OGGI/.

lVitnesses:

' P. A. HAVELICK,

E. T. SiLvIUs.

and a discharge-pipe connected

